Restraint
by vausexual
Summary: Police Detective Piper Chapman strikes up a work-release deal with incarcerated white collar criminal Alex Vause, a con artist as relentless in her flirtation as in her illegal pursuits. [Cop/Criminal AU]
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, hi. Okay, so, for those of you who are here because you read Reading Glasses, THANK YOU and I'm really sorry but that story is on... indefinite hiatus. I didn't really have a direction for it, and I will most likely pick it up again if/when I work out where I want it to go. This story however I'm really enjoying writing, and I have it all planned out for once. The general premise is inspired by the show White Collar (which is fabulous, by the way). Also, this chapter is mainly exposition, so I'm sorry if you feel like you're being bombarded with information! I just really need to get all this out in the first chapter. Please let me know what you think of this idea because I'm kind of shooting in the dark here! Thanks x

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><p>They have history, Piper Chapman and Alex Vause. Though perhaps not in the way one might expect; it's a history of hands slammed on tables and chairs kicked over in frustration, of wildly inappropriate comments and unrelenting smirks. Piper and Alex have seen a lot of each other over the years, and are about to be spending much, much more time together. This has been weighing on Piper's mind for several days up to now. She's aware of how tirelessly infuriating she finds the woman, of how she somehow has the power to make her want to punch something with just a few words. The truth is, it doesn't matter- Piper Chapman <em>needs<em> Alex Vause, much to her dismay. She's far too valuable of an asset to set aside over pettiness. At least, that's what the Captain had said. True, Alex Vause is sly, slick, slippery- all qualities undesirable of someone you're forced to put your faith into. But Detective Chapman does so anyway, and her footsteps feel especially weighted as she steps into the high security prison where a certain con artist has been residing for the past two years.

"So how is this going to work, exactly?"

"Fuck, Brook, I'm not explaining this again."

Piper sighs in annoyance, pressing two fingers against her temple. She had hoped that the brief silence since her rookie's last pointless utterance had been an indication that they were finished talking, but apparently not. She has no fucking idea how this girl even made it out of high school without getting killed, let alone the police academy. Piper would usually consider herself a fairly patient person, but Soso just talked _so damn much_.

"So she'll be free... within a two mile radius? But you're like, watching her?"

"She gets a tracking anklet," The detective begins as she leans against the wall beside the prison's admin desk. They've been instructed to wait for a guard to take them through, and Piper prays that the prison is as enthusiastic about punctuality as Soso is about the sound of her own voice.

"I'll get an alert when she's outside of her radius, and I can check where she is at any time. It's a work release deal, so she'll be consulting with us every day. And she's my responsibility."

"Wow," The rookie grins, standing much closer to her superior officer than is really necessary.

"She's super lucky. I bet the other girls are so jealous. I almost feel bad for them! I think more prisoners should be-"

"Detective Chapman?"

Piper exhales in relief as the door behind her opens and a guard beckons her in. It's immediately louder beyond the door, but the sound of alarms buzzing and inmates shouting is a welcome change.

"She's all yours," The guard almost laughs as she ushers over the inmate in question, unlocking her handcuffs.

"Well," The criminal grins, crossing her arms as she leans back against the wall. She's out of the khaki overalls Piper is used to seeing her in, the modest getup exchanged for tight-fitting jeans, a plain white shirt and leather jacket- evidently she still has people on the outside, close enough to be willing to drop off her clothes. Piper isn't surprised- Alex certainly didn't strike her as someone who was easy to get rid of.

"You're looking lovely today, Detective Chapman."

"Good morning, Miss Vause." Piper rolls her eyes. It's going to be a long year.

* * *

><p>Allowing Soso to drive them back to the station- in hopes that the distraction of the road would put an end to her incessant talking- proves to be a mistake. Not only does she continue her incessant babbling about nothing in particular, but her driving is abysmal. And the rookie's squad car only serves as extra ammunition to the bespectacled passenger's snark.<p>

"Ah, we meet again, old friend." Alex says with a smirk, pressing her hand flat against the window in what appears to be fondness.

"Familiar with the back seat of squad car, are we, Miss Vause?"

"Call me Alex, detective. May I call you Piper?"

"You may not."

Alex laughs throatily, propping her feet up between the front seats only to have them swatted away by the blonde.

"I might have spent a good few nights in one of these babies in my formative years."

"And recently?"

"Just once."

Piper looks up, meeting her eyes in the rear view mirror, unable to read her expression.

"Well, Soso is only here for her own benefit. We'll be travelling in my car, generally."

"I'm sorry," Alex laughs. "Soso?"

"Yes?" The younger officer responds, oblivious.

"Nothing. Great name."

Piper bites her lip to keep herself from laughing, looking away from the mirror to evade the brunette's gaze.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know you, Alex," The young girl begins, turning away from the road to face her for a moment before receiving a slap on the shoulder from the blonde.

"Watch the damn road, Soso."

* * *

><p>Detective Chapman has to take a moment before she steps into the station with her new companion. Throughout her previous visits to Alex in prison on the hunt for information, the criminal had become notorious in her attempts to flirt with Piper- and whilst the blonde was only endlessly annoyed by this, the rest of the squad thought it was utterly hilarious.<p>

So she's not surprised when she walks into Litchfield Police Station to be met by a round of applause. She opts only to roll her eyes and head directly for the coffee machine, pretending not to notice when her partner attempts to discreetly high-five Alex. Bennett is an idiot, but he's a good cop. The raucous is disturbed only when Captain Healy emerges from his office, shouting for quiet.

"Miss Vause, Detective Chapman," He says once the noise has died down, his laboured breath uncomfortably audible to everyone in the room.

"If you could step into my office, please."

Alex gives Piper a questioning glance and receives a shrug in response. The blonde strides purposefully into her boss's office, a coffee cup cradled between her hands, pretending not to notice the pair of eyes raking over her body as she walks away.

Healy's office is about as you'd expect of a cranky old police captain. It's bigger than it needs to be, with the entire back wall lined with filing cabinets that will barely close. A large, messy mahogany desk covered in mug stains is centred in the room, accompanied by an unnecessarily extravagant leather desk chair that sticks out like a sore thumb. Piper is familiar with the chair- Healy had purchased it to celebrate his promotion (when she was still a rookie), and claims that it's somehow symbolic.

"Okay, ladies," The man begins as he sits down, opening a drawer to retrieve a box.

"Lets go over the rules here."

The pair sit down opposite him, Alex's trademark smirk hidden by a hand covering her face. As much as she might be enjoying the attention or finding the police captain's uncomfortable demeanour entertaining, she _does_ need this to go well. Prison is not where she wants to be.

"I'm told you're familiar with the conditions of your little get out of jail free card?"

"Yes," Alex sighs.

"Stay within my radius, be back at my listed address each night by curfew, don't fuck with the tracker, be here every day at 9am. Oh, and no crime."

Healy sighs so heavily that Piper almost worries that he might pass out.

"No crime is a basic requirement of everyone. It's known as the law."

"I always thought of that more as a guideline than a rule."

The greying man closes his eyes for a moment, making no effort to hide his pained expression before pushing the box atop his desk towards Piper. She opens it to reveal a thick metal anklet, open with a small circle of red light at the base.

"Alex." She says calmly, trying not to get annoyed as Alex's smug expression grows even more so as she props her leg up on Healy's desk.

"Wow, detective," Alex begins, enjoying the whole thing far too much as Piper sets up the anklet.

"Jewellery on the first date? Are you trying to get me into bed?"

She has to repress a grin when answered only by the blonde's signature scowl.

"I'll have you know I'm not that kind of girl."

"_Miss Vause_." She turns her head with raised eyebrows at the low, irked sound of the police captain's voice, his face redder than before.

"Behave yourself." He exhales heavily as Alex swallows a laugh and nods.

"Now," He says after a short moment, having regained composure in as much as the awkward man was capable of.

"I'll leave you in Miss Chapman's capable hands."

"I'm sure they're _very_ capable, sir."

Alex maintains eye contact with the uncomfortable man as she stands up to leave, pretending not to notice that Piper, who follows closely behind her, is staring at her as though she's just killed her entire family.

"Hey," The detective says suddenly, turning around so that Alex is trapped between her and the now closed door.

"Watch your fucking mouth, especially in front of Healy. This deal is a privilege, not a right, and you're on thin ice."

She begins to walk away before turning back to meet the criminal's shocked eyes, her voice significantly lower.

"And I think we both know you're _exactly_ that kind of girl."

Alex finds herself letting go of a breath she didn't know she was holding as she watches Piper walk away, adjusting her glasses as she tries to compose herself.

"Fuck," She says under her breath, almost laughing. This is going to be more fun than she ever could have imagined.

* * *

><p>As it happens, the rest of the day is rather uneventful. Apparently having convicted felons released into your control comes with a lot of paper work. The rest of the squad were more than happy to fill Alex in on protocol, what with their inexplicable admiration of her, so Piper is free to get on with actual work, at least until it comes to the girl's curfew. The drive is about as expected- Alex says something inappropriate, Piper sighs. Alex says something reasonable, Piper responds, Alex says something even <em>more<em> inappropriate. She never expected anything less.

Alex's listed residence is the same apartment she lived in pre-prison, with one Nicky Nichols. She's most likely as sketchy a character as Alex- Piper isn't naive enough to think otherwise for a second, but honestly, she doesn't care. _Alex_ is her problem, no one else. She doesn't wait around for introductions, instead checking the anklet one final time and ensuring the tracker is working before bidding the girl goodnight.

"You're quite the gentleman, Detective Chapman."

"You're a cocky asshole. Go get some sleep, Vause. We're doing actual work tomorrow."

The brunette winks before stepping into the apartment, closing the door behind her. The building is much nicer than Piper might have expected, though she realizes as she's heading down the spiraling mahogany staircase that it was close-minded of her to think it would be anything _less_ than this. They're white collar criminals; of _course_ they live in the lap of luxury.

Piper's apartment isn't bad, of course- it's about as good as it gets on a police salary and the minimal income of her underachieving, underemployed live-in boyfriend- but it's not even on the same planet as Alex's place. She doesn't care, though, and the thought is gone from her mind as she's hit by the ever familiar smell of laundry detergent, candles and coffee. Real coffee, too, not that swamp water they have down at the station.

"Hey," A groggy voice calls out, and Piper rolls her eyes. She knows he's spent the night asleep in front of the TV again.

"Hey, Larry," She responds, attempting to repress a sigh.

"How was your day?" He's up now, and peers his head around the kitchen door to where Piper sits at the breakfast bar, with her suit jacket discarded on the seat next to her, her now bare arms resting atop the cool granite of the countertop.

"It was fine." She sounds distant, disinterested; it's pretty much how most of their conversations go after she gets back from work. He's used to it, and she hasn't noticed.

"Didn't you get your consultant today? How did that go?"

"It was fine."

She sighs as he looks away, dejected.

"Sorry. I'm stressed. Can we just go to bed?"

She smiles slightly in relief as he nods before turning to head upstairs. Larry being mad at her is the last thing she needs. Truth be told, he's a home comfort, like warm chicken soup when you're sick or the cool side of the pillow in the middle of a hot night. She's happy right now, but sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes you just need something that makes your blood boil.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: HELLO AGAIN. So, a few things.

First of all: thank you so much for the ridiculously amazing response to the first chapter, my mind is honestly blown. Although the stupid amount of time I took to write this chapter may make it appear otherwise, your reviews make me really happy and motivate me more than anything else.

Also, as was pointed out to me, there a LOT of reality suspension issues going on here. Apparently the work release thing is only for federal agents (?) whoops. This dynamic gives me a lot more freedom, though, so I'm gonna have to ask you all to overlook that. I'm about 99% certain that there's going to be a lot of inaccuracy throughout this whole thing, so I apologise in advance for all that.

And finally, to everyone freaking out that I might abandon this because I abandoned Reading Glasses: FEAR NOT. I am generally not a quitter, and whilst I was making it up as I went along with that fic, I know exactly what's going to happen with this. Grand plans!

Sorry for another long ass A/N. Please review and let me know what you think :)

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><p>"Hey there, Vause. Not inviting your friend in?"<p>

Alex smiles as she turns into the apartment, pulling the door closed behind her before beginning her search for the familiar voice. The place is entirely different from the last time she saw it, but somehow feels exactly the same. Nicky has redecorated again- several times, probably- always a drifter by nature, she had never liked for things to stay the same for too long. Her taste remains the same, though, with an open-plan floor, floor-length windows and smooth mahogany panelling. The walls are sparsely decorated, with the exception of a large, overflowing bookcase against the back wall- Alex's, and seemingly untouched- along with several paintings. Nudes, mostly, as is Nicky's... taste.

"My cop friend?" Alex calls out, heading through the apartment and eventually finding her friend out on the dark balcony with a lit cigarette perched between her lips, her heavy boots resting lazily atop a glass coffee table.

"I couldn't bring her in here. I don't know what kind of shady operation you run these days."

"Hey, fuck you, Vause. I'm squeaky clean." Nicky grins, getting up to pull her friend into a hug.

"It's about time you got outta that fuckin' place. Only you could charm the girl that put you away into letting you out to play cop."

"She did _not_ put me away." Alex corrects her, sitting down opposite her and picking up the packet of cigarettes from the table.

"You know she did all the work though. Tracked your ass down, just didn't get the credit."

Alex holds up a hand to shush the woman before lighting her cigarette and taking a long drag.

"Oh my _god_," She practically moans as smoke swirls out from between her lips.

"Been a while?" Nicky grins as she watches Alex throw her head back as she takes another drag. She'd never admit it, but she's glad to have her friend back.

"You know, two years doesn't even seem like that long," Alex begins again, having regained some composure.

"But in there, _fuck_," She shakes her head slightly, pursing her lips together.

"I feel like I've aged ten years, y'know?"

"And yet not one wrinkle on that pretty little face."

Alex laughs; it's a brazen sound, and she likes the way it sounds out here in the open air. She's barely had a second to take in her new, although limited, freedom, having been carted from the prison straight to the police station and attached to her new electronic anchor. The fresh air feels oddly foreign against her skin, as though she's now beneath a different sky to the one she could see from the prison yard across the city. It seems a lot closer now as she watches the New York nightlife pass by, finding that the stark contrast of city lights against the dark night still holds the soft glow of home. She takes a moment to appreciate the view- it was the selling point that had convinced the two of them to buy the apartment all those years ago- before remembering her situation. She stubs out her cigarette before pulling the right leg of her jeans up slightly, revealing her newly acquired accessory.

"Holy shit," The wild-haired woman laughs, almost awe-struck, standing up to get a closer look at it.

"Can you pick it?" Alex asks seriously.

"_Fuck_ no," Nicky cries, gazing at the device fixed to Alex's ankle.

"It's a thing of beauty. Untouchable, though. That's one leash you're stuck on, sister."

"Fuck," Alex sighs for what seems like forever.

"Hey, look," Nicky begins, having returned to her seat.

"Sure, your first instinct is to run because, of course it is. You're being tracked by the fuckin' cops. But you gotta think about the alternative. What was your cellmate's name? Crazy eyes?"

"Ugh, don't," She groans, raising both hands in defeat.

"Lesser of two evils, kid," Nicky shrugs. "So what are we doing tonight?"

Alex turns to raise an eyebrow at her friend.

"What do you mean?"

"It's your first night back in the real world, Vause! Time to go and fuckin _see _it."

The brunette laughs, shaking her head in disbelief.

"There's this thing called house arrest, Nicky. I'm _under it_."

"What about your two miles?"

"Curfew's at eleven."

"Fuck!" Nicky throws her hands into the air in outrage. "That's bullshit. We gotta get you off of that thing. That's fucked up."

Alex rolls her eyes, getting up to head back inside and raid the apartment for whatever booze Nicky has lying around. After two years dry, she feels somewhat entitled to a decent glass of wine.

* * *

><p>It's being busy that Piper lives for. It's being on the go, constantly moving, knowing that what she's doing is important, that her work is what can make the difference between life and death. She likes being in control. She lives for the knowledge that the show can't go on without her, that someone's waiting on her. It's a profound sense of purpose that puts the spring in Piper's step as she leaves her car at 7am the next morning, and its her thirst for a challenge that propels her towards the station.<p>

She takes a moment to drink in the sight before her as she enters; its utterly crazy. Police of every rank bustle to and fro, tearing through paperwork and talking on the phone- or shouting, rather, over the deafening volume of the news on the small overhead TV at the back of the room. It's their case, a high profile theft and murder. From what she gathers, at first from the news coverage and then the paperwork promptly thrust into her arms by a rookie who's name she has forgotten- if she ever knew it at all- is that it's a museum heist gone awry. An unfortunate, but sadly typical wrong-place-wrong-time scenario. The intruders had successfully bypassed all of the extensive security measures and staff, but had not accounted for a low-level employee still wandering around, searching for a doll that had been reported lost by a little girl. Piper takes half a second to be thankful that informing the family is _not_ her job.

She heads to her desk across the room, finding a mountain of paperwork and, thankfully, a takeaway coffee cup. She's barely sat down before Bennett rushes out of a door and towards her.

"Crime scene," her partner states simply as he heads for his own desk to collect his jacket and keys. It's so loud in the station that she doesn't notice the approaching footsteps as she tries to clear up her train wreck of a desk, and almost chokes on her coffee when she eventually stands up to meet the eyes of Alex Vause. She looks different; her casual getup has been exchanged for fitted black trousers and a tight black shirt, with far too many buttons undone. Her hair is pinned back at the front and her lips adorned with red, and Piper begins to understand Alex's success as a con artist. She's the kind of woman anybody would fall over themselves to impress, and she embodies the phrase 'if looks could kill' better than anyone Piper has ever met. Real World Alex is much different to Prison Alex; whilst Piper had been antagonised yesterday, and all those times she'd interrogated her before, she had never felt _intimidated_. Alex on her own terms, though, exudes an energy it's impossible not to be struck by.

"Hey," The brunette says eventually, smirking at Piper with her eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Do you want me to do a twirl or something?"

Piper scoffs, standing up and smoothing down her shirt, feeling indignant.

"Can it, Vause." She pretends not to notice the other woman's pleased-with-herself grin as she turns back to face her partner.

"I'll text you the address and meet you there," Bennett says, heading to leave before turning back for a moment.

"Sorry I didn't pick up your coffee, by the way. Hectic morning."

Piper frowns as she watches him leave, glancing down at the coffee cup on her desk and then at the woman in front of her, who answers with a wink.

"You're welcome, kid. We leaving?"

Piper is so distracted that she barely picks up on the nickname she'd otherwise might've dismissed for being demeaning, instead simply nodding and heading out to her car with Alex in tow.

* * *

><p>"What the hell is she doing?"<p>

Piper looks up from her spot next to the body when Bennett whispers to her. She stands up, following his line of sight to Alex, who is pacing the other end of the room. They're stood in one of the smaller back rooms of the museum's main gallery, that had been home to a relatively small, but priceless and heavily guarded painting. The detectives watch as Alex runs her hand carefully across the vacant wall where the painting had hung before striding over to the nearest security camera.

"She's casing the place," Piper laughs, gazing on in fascination.

"Does she realise it's already been robbed?" Bennett quips.

"No, it's good," Piper reasons.

"This is what she's good for. She can get into their heads."

She doesn't catch the look Bennett gives her as she continues to watch the other woman.

"Just don't let her get into yours," He mutters.

"What?" Piper prompts, not having heard him.

"Nothing!" The man raises his hands in innocence as he walks away towards the medical examiner on scene.

She frowns slightly as she watches him walk away, before turning back to find Alex approaching her. The woman's face is devoid of her usual smug arrogance, instead a picture of serene focus. She's invested; drawn in by the challenge of taking down someone who's mind works in similar ways to her own.

"I need to see the security system," She says, barely even paying attention to the other woman, and Piper almost laughs.

"What?"

"The _security system_. I need to _see it_."

Piper rolls her eyes at the woman's bluntness, unconsciously standing up slightly straighter and folding her arms.

"I don't think it's in anyone's best interest to let you into the security system of a building filled with priceless art."

"Piper," Alex's voice is calm, almost unnervingly so, patronising. She places her hand carefully on Piper's arm.

"May I call you Piper?"

"No."

Alex grins, only spurred on by the blonde's annoyance.

"Do you _really_ think I'd try to hit this place, on my first day out of prison, when it's already a crime scene and I'm directly under your nose?"

Piper only stares at her intensely, her lips pressed in a tight line, searching her green eyes for something to mistrust. That's the most worrying thing about Alex, for Piper, anyway: she's a settling presence, overbearing and dangerous yet doubtlessly endearing, inspiring faith. She's the snake that whispers smooth reassurances, _I'm not poisonous_, as it slowly constricts around your throat.

Alex's expression softens when Piper doesn't answer, and she drops her hand.

"Look," She sighs.

"I'm here because I can help, so let me help. This isn't gonna work if you can't trust me at all. Give me a shot."

* * *

><p>It's maybe half an hour later when Piper finally starts to see Alex's potential. She had been reluctant to strike up the deal in the first place, having experienced firsthand how difficult Alex can be, all empty promises and evasion tactics, using her wit and flirtation to divert Piper from the information she was looking for. The captain, however, had been impressed with the way Piper had handled her- misplaced praise, Piper had thought, as she didn't believe she had handled her <em>at all<em>- and the rest of the squad seemed to believe she had invaluable skills and knowledge. Piper was sceptical, of course she was, but now, as she watches Alex tap into some of the most complex technology she's ever seen, her nerves about the whole thing are settled. Alex works quickly and intensely, and whilst Piper hasn't a fucking clue what she's actually _doing_, it's fascinating. Her fingers dance effortlessly across the computer keys, eliciting pages of incomprehensible code that Piper watches fly past in the reflection of Alex's glasses- an obstruction that does little to hide the determined glint in her eyes. She seems to tap easily back into the parts of her brain forced to lay dormant for the past two years, just like riding a bike. It's strangely exhilarating, Alex finds, to engage in a battle of wits against someone on her own level, someone who's exact position she might've found herself in had recent events gone a little differently. Although she understands enough about this side of things to retrieve the kind of basic information the cops would sing her praises for, this isn't her department- she was always very much the human element when they pulled off jobs. Whilst Nicky could manipulate technology, Alex could manipulate _people_. It takes a special kind of skill set to be able to gain the trust of just about anyone: an appearance striking enough to reel them in, a slight of hand to slip a key card from a jacket pocket, an intoxicating way with words to appeal to that part of them that silently fucking _craves_ the adrenaline she can fill them with.

Alex Vause is different- she's talented in all the ways that can't be seen on a school report card or a résumé, charming in all the ways a mother might warn about. She's a storm; not the kind watched through a window whilst curled up with a book, but the kind a whole street runs outside to be drenched by, overcome with an unfathomable need to _feel_ something.

Neither of them realise it, but as Alex turns around and announces that she knows how the thieves got in, Piper considers that she could crack open that window slightly. A little rain never hurt anybody.


End file.
